[BL] I Accidentally Summoned A Demon Husband Now He Won't Leave-Chapter 21: Awakening A Dungeon

The moment Elliot opened his eyes again, all he saw was darkness.

He blinked once. Twice. Countless times.

But the darkness remained, swallowing everything in its abyss.

His heart pounded as unease settled in his chest. Where was this? Had he died? Was this... heaven?

No. Heaven was supposed to be bright. Then... hell?

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. Had he ended up in hell? But something felt off. This place wasn’t suffocating with heat or the scent of burning flesh like the hell described in books. It was just... empty.

A strange sensation pricked at his consciousness, and for some reason, the more he thought about his surroundings, the more restless he became. The uncertainty gnawed at him, he needed to see something, anything.

Desperate, Elliot closed his eyes again and imagined light.

And then—

When he opened his eyes, the darkness had vanished, replaced by an ethereal brightness. The sudden shift sent waves of shock coursing through his mind. How? Just by thinking?

A flicker of realization dawned on him. Testing his theory, he closed his eyes again and focused on darkness.

When he opened them—pitch black.

A cold shudder ran down his spine. This... wasn’t normal.

What kind of place is this?

He quickly sat up, his hands pressing into what felt like soft earth. Glancing downward, he realized he had been sitting on lush, green grass. His brows furrowed in confusion. Grass?

His head snapped up as he finally took in his surroundings. What he saw left him breathless. He was in the middle of an enormous forest, but it wasn’t like any forest he had ever seen before. The air was crisp, carrying a faint, intoxicating fragrance of blooming flowers and fresh rain. Trees stretched high into the sky, their leaves shimmering in a spectrum of colors, shifting subtly with the wind. Some trees bore silver leaves that reflected the light like precious metal, while others had blossoms so vibrant they looked almost unreal.

Crystal-clear streams snaked through the land, their waters sparkling like liquid diamonds. Soft petals floated in the air, drifting lazily as if guided by an unseen force. Fireflies *no, not fireflies, but tiny, glowing creatures* flitted through the branches, leaving behind shimmering trails of light. The entire place looked like a scene from an enchanted spring festival, untouched by time or decay.

Awe flickered in Elliot’s eyes. This place... is beautiful.

Everything looked... alive.

Too alive. Too perfect. Too surreal.

Then his gaze landed on the nearest tree, where plump, juicy golden apples hung in bunches. Their surfaces glowed slightly, as if infused with magic.

Elliot didn’t hesitate. Rationality should have told him to be cautious. What if it was poisonous? What if it was dangerous? But the sight of fresh fruit was too enticing.

He hadn’t eaten fresh fruit since transmigrating. In the mortal realm, the depletion of spiritual energy had made it impossible to cultivate natural fruits. The few that existed were artificially preserved with faint traces of spiritual energy, but their taste was dull, and they provided no nourishment.

As a self-proclaimed fruit lover, Elliot had hated this fact.

So, when he saw these fruits, bursting with color and untouched by decay, all rational thought fled his mind.

So now?

With a hunger he hadn’t realized he possessed, he plucked the golden apple, wiped it against his sleeve, and sank his teeth into it.

The moment the sweet nectar exploded in his mouth, he almost moaned in pleasure.

This... This is heaven...!

He could feel warmth spread through his body, a familiar yet long-forgotten sensation. He could feel it, the flow of pure spiritual energy seeping into his meridians. Unlike the stale, stored fruits of the mortal realm, this fruit was alive with power.

His lips curved into a smile.

If I eat all these apples... wouldn’t I be able to gain spiritual power?

But his delight was short-lived.

A sudden, searing pain shot through his chest.

"Ahhh!!!"

The fruit slipped from his grasp, falling onto the grass as his hands flew to his chest. The pain was unbearable, a sharp, burning agony that spread through his veins like wildfire. He gasped, trying to inhale, but the air itself felt hostile—foreign. It was as if his body was rejecting the very atmosphere of this place.

Desperate, he forced himself to take deep puffs of air, then exhaled harshly. The sharp pressure in his chest lessened slightly, but the pain still pulsed beneath his skin like an impending explosion.

Something was wrong.

His instincts screamed, and he hurriedly checked his meridians.

What he felt made his blood run cold.

It was chaos. Inside him, there was a violent clash. It felt as if two forces—water and fire—were at war within his body.

Mana energy was like fire, raw and untamed. Spiritual energy, on the other hand, was like water, calm but deep. In theory, harnessing both energies was normal. In fact, it was the ideal balance for a cultivator.

So why were they clashing inside him?

Why was his body rejecting it?!

His mind raced. Was the fruit poisoned? That was one possibility. But another, more terrifying thought surfaced.

Could it be—his body itself was rejecting spiritual energy?

Elliot’s stomach twisted as realization hit.

Back in the mortal realm, he had absorbed raw mana energy from the crystal. He hadn’t tamed it, hadn’t regulated it, it was still raw, untamed power running rampant inside him.

And now, another raw energy—spiritual energy—was trying to coexist within him.

Two unstable forces clashing? No wonder his body was going berserk.

This was bad.

Really bad.

His heart pounded as he forced himself to take deep, slow breaths. The air here... It felt different.

Elliot inhaled sharply again, but the pain only intensified.

Shit!

He quickly exhaled, almost expelling the air from his lungs.

It worked.

The pain eased slightly, but his situation hadn’t changed. He couldn’t afford to stay here.

The beauty of this place suddenly no longer mattered. He didn’t care about the glowing trees, the shimmering waters, or the golden fruits. He needed to leave.

What if the air itself was poisoned?

His urgency increased when he finally caught a glimpse of his reflection in the clear waters nearby.

He leaned closer, squinting through the shimmering surface. His face was a little blurry, but—

His hair.

It had grown slightly longer, silky strands cascading down his shoulders, framing his face in a way that only enhanced his beauty. His skin had a healthier glow, his features sharper yet ethereal.

Elliot’s eye twitched.

No. No. NO!

He grabbed at his hair in frustration.

Why the hell was he getting prettier?!

If anything, he preferred getting uglier—at least for now!

For God’s sake, he was trying to find a way to break this damn marriage with Azrael! If he became even more handsome, wouldn’t that make things worse?!

At this rate, even his enemies would fall in love with him!

No. This can’t continue.

He needed to leave.

This place—this beautiful, mystical, frustrating place—was only adding to his problems.

More importantly, he needed to find an advanced mage who could help him tame the raw mana energy he had absorbed earlier. If he didn’t regulate it soon, it could shatter his spiritual core and kill him. He wouldn’t even need an enemy to kill him, his own unstable energies would do the job.

His hands clenched into fists.

He needed to leave now.

But—

A chilling realization crept into his mind.

How?

He had no idea how he got here.

And worse, he had no idea where "here" even was.

A cold wave of dread settled over him.

This was bad. Really bad.